backupssdtime-machine
I'm considering upgrading the SSD in my mid 2014 MacBook Pro. I'm wondering:
If I backup my hard drive with Time Machine, will I be able to use Time Machine to paste my current content (whole or parts, OS, documents, configuration etc.) to the new (and bigger) SSD?
Would it be relevant (performance wise) to do a fresh install of macOS instead of pasting my old HD content (OS included)?
Any other things I should consider during this upgrade?
Here is a good article about the experience a user had with SSDs: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/05/the-hot-crazy-solid-state-drive-scale.html
Basically
SSDs are so scorching hot that I'm willing to put up with their craziness.
but...
Just make sure you have a good backup plan if you're running on a SSD.
RAM still is a lot faster than any SSD which you use in your Mac. RAM has a shorter access times and much higher transfer rates:
[table]
The SATA interface by which the hard disk is connected limits the throughput to a theoretical maximum of 6Gbit/s (600MB/s) for SATA3.
You can determine how much the page outs are written to the disk by taking a look at the Activity Monitor. I try to keep the ratio at a maximum of 10/1 (page in/page out). The more page outs you have, the more like a RAM upgrade will benefit you.
Best Answer
It would be advisable to perform a Time Machine backup of your current drive, preform a fresh install of macOS on the new SSD and then use the Migration Assistance to restore from Time Machine backup.
Apple support document, How to move your content to a new Mac is a relevant read here.
Performing a fresh install of macOS will give you the advantage of getting rid of the baggage left behind by uninstalled software and best performance as far as OS installation is concerned.
Using the Migration Assistance, you'll be able to restore your user data, apps and configuration.
Make sure to test the Time Machine backup and ensure its sanity before erasing your old drive. Better, verify that everything is OK in the new drive after migration.
A non-functional backup is as good as no backup.
Additional Note: As mentioned by Tetsujin, run Migration Assistant at the first run of the newly installed OS, otherwise you end up with 2 accounts & have to merge them manually.